Sorry so this tournament has no reward? nothing to do with WC right? I8f that is the case you could send U23s. Tournament just for rankings?
I don't think that it will that drastically affect the rankings; I went through a mock tournament (assuming everyone would beat their lower ranked opposition) just to see how the ranking coefficient would change, and in that case NZ gained 63 ranking points to get as high as 1260 points, or 91st in the rankings. That also doesn't take into account any games outside of the OFC Nations Cup, so could be lower than 91st (or higher if all the teams above in the rankings lose). Also doesn't take into account March friendlies which could well lower NZ's current coefficient.
Well done Carlind nof far off at all!
Your prediction 91st, and actually result sitting at 94th.
Had hoped for better. I imagine sitting 94th at 48 team WC still sees us firmly seeded in Pot D. Might be a few CAF teams that qualify for 2026 ranked lower than us.
CAF will get 9 teams to North America in 2026. Namibia who had a great AFCON tourney earlier this year (made R16) are ranked 98th. Mauritania also made R16 at AFCON are 112th.
AFC get 8 teams in 2026. One of them might be ranked lower than NZ.
But odds on unless we can improve our ranking into 70s or 80s we would still be the lowest ranked nation in 2026.
https://www.oceaniafootball.com/reaction-ofc-coaches-share-their-thoughts-following-fifa-world-cup-26-draw/
Overnight the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s World Ranking was released and sees New Zealand back in the top 100 for the first time in seven years.
OFC’s FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s World Ranking (18 July 2024)